March 04, 2020
Push Notifications for marketing purposes, a 'Sign in with Apple' clarification and more
Apple has updated the App Store Review Guidelines with changes to rules related to replies to reviews, spam, push notifications, Sign in with Apple, data collection and storage, mobile device management, and more.
Specifically, Apple now allows for marketing Push Notifications if the user has opted in to these and the guidelines related to Sign in with Apple are now clearer, Apple having removed “exclusively”, which was used in a way that made it sound like you were only required to offer Sign in with Apple if you exclusively used third-party login systems, which is not the case.
The complete changes can be seen below:
Apps should not include content that is offensive, insensitive, upsetting,
intended to disgust, in exceptionally poor taste, or just plain creepy.
Examples of such content include:
Apps with user-generated content or services that end up being used
primarily for pornographic content,
Chatroulette-style experiences, objectification
of real people (e.g. “hot-or-not” voting), making physical threats, or
bullying do not belong on the App Store and may be removed without notice.
If your app includes user-generated content from a web-based service, it may
display incidental mature “NSFW” content, provided that the content is
hidden by default and only displayed when the user turns it on via your
website.
Don’t create multiple Bundle IDs of the same app. If your app has
different versions for specific locations, sports teams, universities, etc.,
consider submitting a single app and provide the variations using in-app
purchase. Also avoid piling on to a category that is already saturated; the
App Store has enough fart, burp, flashlight,
fortune telling, dating, and Kama Sutra apps,
etc. already.
We will reject these apps unless they provide a unique, high-quality
experience. Spamming the store may lead to your removal from the Developer Program.
Apps may contain or run code that is not embedded in the binary (e.g.
HTML5-based games, bots, etc.), as long as code distribution isn’t the main
purpose of the app, the code is not offered in a store or store-like
interface, and provided that the software (1) is free or purchased using
in-app purchase; (2) only uses capabilities available in a standard WebKit
view (e.g. it must open and run natively in Safari without modifications or
additional software); your app must use WebKit and JavaScript Core to run
third-party software and should not attempt to extend or expose native
platform APIs to third-party software; (3) is offered by developers that
have joined the Apple Developer Program and
signed the Apple Developer Program License
Agreement; (4) does not provide access to real money gaming, lotteries, or
charitable donations; (5) adheres to the terms of these App Review
Guidelines (e.g. does not include objectionable content); and (6) does not
supportoffer digital
commercegoods or services for sale. Upon request, you
must provide an index of software and metadata available in your app. It
must include Apple Developer Program Team IDs
for the providers of the software along with a URL which App Review can use
to confirm that the software complies with the requirements above.
Apps that exclusively use a third-party or
social login service (such as Facebook Login, Google Sign-In, Sign in with
Twitter, Sign In with LinkedIn, Login with Amazon, or WeChat Login) to set
up or authenticate the user’s primary account with the app must also offer
Sign in with Apple as an equivalent option. A user’s primary account is the
account they establish with your app for the purposes of identifying
themselves, signing in, and accessing your features and associated services.
1.2 User Generated Content
4.2 Minimum Functionality
4.3 Spam
4.7 HTML5 Games, Bots, etc.